We're Riding on the bus with the Alphabet........
Written: Jan 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Volume Control!! Turns itself off after a minute of inactivity
Cons: Letter are on the small side, difficult for little fingers to push
The Bottom Line: Worth every penny, you won't be disappointed
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| gdwtch22's Full Review: Fun and Learn Phonics Bus |
"We're riding on the bus with the alphabet, won't you push a letter and see what you get!"
This is truly one of the greatest toys I've seen yet. It has everything I think a toy should have and amazingly nothing that annoys me. I really had to strain myself to come up with a con.
My youngest son (one year, two weeks, three days, but who's counting, ha ha) received the Fun and Learn Phonics Bus for Christmas. At first he wasn't all that interested, but once we got it out of the box, he had a change of heart. The bus comes with batteries in it, a huge plus with me. It's dimensions are approximately a foot long and about six inches high. Not too big, it could easily fit into a larger diaper bag, not too small so it doesn't get lost between the cushions of the car seat for an eternity. It's yellow of course, with black wheels. It rolls along pretty good, and could be used just strictly as a toy bus if need be. In the bus are three characters, firmly attached I might add. On the front of the bus are headlights, and two larger buttons one red, the other blue. When you push the blue button the bus honks it's horn. When you red button it plays a little jingle. On the side of the bus are buttons with the entire alphabet. The letters are either red, green, or blue. On the back of the bus are the mode switches, and the volume control switch. There are four different modes. The first is the ABC with phonics, the second is just ABC's, and the third is music. On the first mode when you push a letter, it will tell you letter and what sounds it makes. It does this in a fun way by singing it and making everything rhyme. On the second mode it simply says the letter that you have pushed. On the third, my personal favorite, it has a little song for each letter. I'm not going to type them all in, but some examples are: X is "Yellow Rose of Texas" , M is "Mary had a little Lamb, C is "Clementine" ect. My son really likes it when it's on mode too. He usually pushes the button and then does a little dance to the music. The fourth mode is the off button. This button is sort of pointless really because the bus shuts itself off after you stop playing with it for about a minute. It says bye bye, and then shuts off. This is a great feature. I hate battery sucking toys, and this is a great way to prevent that. When you push on the characters in the bus they say various things. When the bus is in ABC/Phonics mode, the characters will ask questions, sort of like a quiz. This is a pretty cool feature too, but my baby isn't quite that advanced. I imagine he will be ready for it in the next few months though. There are two volume settings, there medium and low. I say medium because it isn't extremely loud at all. The low setting is just barely audible. I really like the fact that he will still be able to play with this toy a few months from now as well as still keeping he rather short attention span now. Oh, almost forgot the bus is really sturdy. My son has put a beating to it many times now and it's still in perfect working order.
I really can't think of anything I don't like about this toy except for the fact that the letters are a little small. My son's fingers aren't that nimble yet. It really isn't a huge problem, if anything, perhaps it will help him fine tune his movements later. Also, it is a little on the spendy side however, it's worth every penny.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
gdwtch22
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Member: Star Melville
Location: Sprague, Washington
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
24 year old full time postal clerk and mother of two adorable little boys
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